DHS seeks to upgrade ID management system

The Department of Homeland Security seeks to upgrade its ID management system to a new smart-card system that incorporates facial, fingerprint and iris recognition capabilities, according to a request for proposal released May 24. The department's goal is to accomplish the change by 2014.

While DHS is hoping for fast progress, the project is capped at 10 years and $99.5 million. It is the latest step on a path than began with the post-9/11 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which called for biometric Personal Identify Verification (PIV) cards for federal employees.

According to the RFP, DHS and its component agencies will replace more than 250,000 PIV cards over the next two calendar years – 161,000 in 2013 and 116,000 in 2014 – with the contractor essentially taking charge of revamping the entire credentialing process at the agency. The identity cards are used by qualified DHS personnel and contractors to access DHS facilities and computer networks.

The RPF mandates that the contractor be able to issue and manage "at least 300,000 PIV cards," and roll out up to 400 Enrollment and Issuance Workstations (EIWS) across hundreds of DHS sites. It further directs the contractor to integrate existing DHS EIWS into the new HSPD-12 Identity and Credential Management solution infrastructure.

In addition, the contractor will develop as many as 16,000 "light activation stations," which are computers networked to the credential management computer program that allows users to independently update ID data and passwords. Existing ID management technologies at DHS, including back-end infrastructure and interfaces, must also be upgraded by the contractor.

"This capability shall provide HSPD-12 (PIV) credential issuance and management, management and tracking of identity and attribute information, integration with DHS personnel vetting process, interfacing with logical and physical access systems for application enablement, information discovery and audit, data security and segmentation, system interfaces, online scheduling system, public key infrastructure (PKI), and systems management," according to the RFP.

Proposals are due by July 1.